Prospective owner seeks to convert South College Street house into four-room bed-and-breakfast

Gail Wilkinson, a Portland, Tennessee resident, told the Franklin City Commission that she is negotiating to buy a South College Street house owned by Stephen Bowers and would like to restore it into a four-bedroom, four-bath bed-and-breakfast.

Wilkinson said the property is currently zoned commercial and would need to be rezoned into one of the city's residential zones (R-1 through R-4) before the operation could proceed. She told the commission she has spoken with the local historic-preservation contact, Lee Ross Dinwiddie, and that exterior maintenance work generally does not require committee approval but structural changes, fences or historically inappropriate colors would.

The proposal would place three bedrooms upstairs with three baths and a first-floor bedroom with a bath, plus multiple sitting rooms and a shop. Wilkinson said Franklin's bed-and-breakfast rules require one parking space per room, meaning the site would need four spaces; she said two spaces currently exist and there is a nonfunctional garage on the property. City staff and commissioners said the street appears wide enough for additional on-street spaces and that the city can consider an occupancy or overnight-parking permit system for guests.

Wilkinson said the project would be a "labor of love" and not primarily for profit; she said net proceeds would support a nonprofit dog rescue she recently started. She described prior renovation experience, including a 1919 bungalow in Chicago, and said she plans to begin work at the end of 2025 if she proceeds and hopes the inn would be operating by the end of 2026.

City staff and commissioners encouraged her to coordinate with the planning and zoning office and the historic-preservation committee on design details, and suggested the commission and staff can consider parking modifications on the block if needed. No formal action, rezoning application or permit was taken during the meeting.

Why it matters: The proposal would place a transient lodging use into a historic neighborhood and requires land-use approvals, coordination with the historic-preservation process and on-street or off-street parking adjustments before operation.

Details to watch: whether the property owner completes a sale to Wilkinson, the formal rezoning application to R-1/R-4, any required historic-district approvals for exterior changes, and staff recommendations on adding up to four parking spaces or an overnight permit program.